Hugo Chavez wants Venezuela to build nuclear programme

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced he wants the country to develop a nuclear programme with the help of Russia. He insists, as do the Iranians, that it would be for purely peaceful purposes.

"We certainly are interested in developing nuclear energy, for peaceful ends of course, for medical purposes and to generate electricity," Mr Chavez said during a political rally of his United Venezuelan Socialist Party in Caracas. "Brazil has various nuclear reactors, as does Argentina. We will have ours and Vladimir [Putin, the Russian prime minister] said Russia is ready to help Venezuela develop nuclear energy."

The Venezuelan president recently returned from Moscow, where increasingly close ties were cemented with planned joint military exercises, energy accords and a Russian offer of a billion-dollar credit line to Venezuela for further arms purchases. Mr Chavez has already spent $4.4 bn on Russian aircraft, submarines and weapons. The Venezuelan president said he had forged a "profound friendship" with Mr Putin.

Colombia and other neighbours are worried by Mr Chavez. A source in the Colombian Defence Ministry said that intelligence reports suggested that while Mr Chavez had publicly called for Colombian rebels to lay down their arms, Caracas was still providing covert support for Colombian guerrillas.

"We know that there are still rebel camps on the Venezuelan side of the border and that the guerrillas move around with relative impunity," said the source, adding that the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Venezuela would destroy the balance of power in the region.

Mr Chavez has supported Iran's nuclear project and turned the Middle Eastern nation into a strategic partner, combining efforts to restrict oil production to keep prices high and engaging in joint economic ventures. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Caracas in September last year.